Last week's arrest of a 26-year-old Cheltenham man, and the related closure of the TV-links website, has prompted a flurry of speculation that the very foundations of the internet (linking to stuff) might be under threat. Although this might be a worry too far, legal eagles at Pinsent Masons say that it could be an important test case of UK law.

After an investigation by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and local trading standards office, police swooped on an address in Cheltenham on Thursday last week, cuffing a 26-year-old for "offences relating to the facilitation of copyright infringement on the Internet" according to the FACT announcement. The man has been released pending further investigation